‘X-Men Days of Future Past’ Director Described ‘Superman Returns’ As Failed Attempt To Connect With Female Audience; What Would He Change With ‘Man Of Steel?’

Bryan Singer is in the center of the movie world as the director of "X-Men: Days of Future Past." A mere eight years ago, Singer helmed the ambitious Superman sequel, "Superman Returns" and it was known as one of the worst comic book movies ever.

The project was a very tricky one to say the least. The events were supposed to take place after "Superman 2." Ignoring the last two sequels was probably the only thing they did right. Superhero Movies were not exactly the rage at that time (even though Bryan Singer directed the first X-Men movie) and there were a lot of budgetary limits.

Singer talks with Empire Magazine as part of their X-Men extravaganza:

"It was a movie made for a certain kind of audience. Perhaps more of a female audience. It wasn't what it needed to be, I guess. I think I could lop the first quarter off and start the movie a bit more aggressively and maybe find a way to start the movie with the jet disaster sequence or something. I could have grabbed the audience a little more quickly. I don'y know what would have helped. Probably nothing. If I could go again, I would do an origin. I would reboot it." 

Crossing the line between a reboot and a sequel is a difficult dilemma. He seems to have learned from the experience as his current project, "X-Men: Days of Future Past" seeks to separate the sequel from the reboot (X-Men 3 and X-Men:First Class) by creating a new timeline.

Before that, one post mortem at "Man Of Steel," THE Superman reboot that Bryan Singer did not make. It's obviously not made specifically for the female audience, and Zach Snyder seems to have a full, free hand:

"I am in awe of the world building and the scope of that picture. It's tough for me. I'm not a critic and it starts to get into a weird thing where one director is talking about another director. I know how hard it is to make a movie, especially one of these movies and especially a Superman movie, and there was so much I was impressed with in that movie. There were things I might have done a little differently just because of the way I view the character. Don't misinterpret that as me not liking something. It's not 'Bryan Singer's review of Man Of Steel'!"

Snyder may have learned from the "Superman Returns" debacle. Warner Bros. and DC did, too. Now it's Bryan Singer's chance to show that he's moved on.